IHS Markit has updated its Australian pay TV data in light of the latest guidance on the performance of market leader Foxtel provided by major shareholder News Corp Australia. Pay TV providers continue to show resilience but growth has plateaued, a sentiment echoed in the Q4 2017 filings by News Corp, which indicate a downward revision in its future outlook for the business. As such, IHS Markit has adjusted its forecasts on the Australian pay TV market accordingly, which now illustrate contrasting fortunes for the two main players – Foxtel’s subscriber base is going down, while Fetch TV’s is on the up.

Spotify and Tencent have agreed a share swap and investment deal. The exact terms between the streaming music company and the Chinese internet giant have not been revealed but industry publications have reported that under the deal Spotify and Tencent Music Entertainment TME) will get 10% of each other’s businesses. TME, which is majority-owned by Tencent is the leading music streaming service in China powering offers from QQ Music, KuGou and Kuwo. In addition to the stock swap Tencent has acquired a stake in Spotify by purchasing shares from existing backers.

Spotify and Tencent have agreed a share swap and investment deal. The exact terms between the streaming music company and the Chinese internet giant have not been revealed but industry publications have reported that under the deal Spotify and Tencent Music Entertainment TME) will get 10% of each other’s businesses. TME, which is majority-owned by Tencent is the leading music streaming service in China powering offers from QQ Music, KuGou and Kuwo. In addition to the stock swap Tencent has acquired a stake in Spotify by purchasing shares from existing backers.

Australian commercial free-to-air TV broadcaster Seven Network will launch 7plus, its new over-the-top (OTT) digital video streaming service, in November 2017. 7plus will feature exclusive original commissions in addition to live and on demand content.

Three of South Korea's leading broadcasters have launched Kocowa (Korean Content Wave), an online video streaming service, in the US. The service, launched on 24 July, is backed by Korean Content Platform (KCP), a US-based joint venture company between Korean Broadcasting System (KBS), Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) and Seoul Broadcasting System (SBS). The service offers content from these broadcasters with English subtitles, with some shows airing six hours after broadcast in South Korea.

The roll-out of Australia’s high-speed National Broadband Network (NBN) is halfway complete. More than 5.7 million homes and businesses now have access to fast broadband by connecting to the NBN through a retail service provider. To reach the half way milestone NBN Co launched two satellites, built 1,700 fixed wireless sites, employed 6,000 people, installed 21,000 nodes and laid 63,000 kilometers of fibre.

Netflix has commissioned Tidelands, a primetime drama series, as its latest investment in local Australian content. Tidelands will debut exclusively on Netflix and premiere worldwide. The first season will have 10 episodes that run for 50 minutes each. Production will start in Queensland, Australia during 2018 by Brisbane-based Hoodlum Entertainment. There is no release date for the new series.

PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Telkom) and Netflix have entered into an agreement which will unblock the Netflix service on the state-controlled incumbent telecommunications operators network. Deal requires Netflix to fulfill Indonesian regulation whereby its content will go through censorship and the company must form a partnership with a local operator or create a local unit in the country.

Singtel, Sony Pictures and Warner Bros have invested additional USD25 million in HOOQ, a subscription based online video service. Share distribution between the companies will remain the same following the deal. Singtel owns 65 percent, while the remaining shares are split equally between Sony’s AXN and Warner Bros.

Studio+, a subscription video on demand (SVoD) service from Vivendi specifically designed for mobile consumption launched in France, November 2016. Studio+ is intended to address the perceived shift in viewing behaviour of younger demographics by capturing the rise of mobile video among millennials.

IHS forecasts for Netflix’s International territories have been slightly reduced to 38m for 2016 and 75.7m for 2020, a reduction of around 1m for the 5 year outlook. For the US 2016 forecasts have been adjusted to 48.3m subscribers.

Amazon has unveiled its plan to add original content exclusively on its Prime Video service in Japan. There will be 12 new original programmes, including kids’ content, comedy and documentaries, available for Amazon Prime Video subscribers in Japan

Sky’s Now TV throws down the gauntlet to online video providers and low cost operator bundles alike, adding broadband internet and telephony services to their Now TV offer. The service which will launch in early July features a new streaming box which, like previous devices, is made by long term partner and part subsidiary; Roku. The slightly larger DMA is now capable of 1080p streaming, comes with a digital tuner for terrestrial broadcast, and adds live pause capabilities.

Netflix has executed its global expansion plan by launching in 130 new territories simultaneously. The online-video streaming giant made the announcement at the CES conference and trade show in Las Vegas on 6th January 2015. The US company, which launched its streaming service in the US in 2007, now claims to be available in almost every country worldwide, with exceptions including China, Syria and North Korea.
The service has added Arabic, Korean, Simplified and Traditional Chinese to the selection of 17 languages it already supported, bringing the total to 21.

Private national French television network TF1 has gained control of major production company Newen by acquiring a 70% majority stake in holding company, FLCP. The deal was finalised on 9 November 2015. TF1 aims to create a European production powerhouse with this partnership, enabling it to tap into foreign markets.

Disney's new SVoD service, Disneylife, launched in the UK on 23 November 2015. As previously detailed by IHS, the service includes support for Android, iOS and PC platforms. Up to 10 devices and 6 profiles can be registered with the option of tailoring parental controls for each individual profile.

Disney is to launch a new subscription based streaming service, DisneyLife, in the UK. The service differs from rivals such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and NowTV by supplementing video with digital books and music. However the monthly fee is set at £9.99, higher than Netflix and Amazon at £5.99 and NowTV at £6.99.

The BBC launched BBC Store on 31 November 2015 as a digital counterpart to the BBC Shop. Containing recent content, archived titles and some productions not previously aired, the BBC Store hopes to capture purchases driven by the shift in viewing to digital platforms. There will be integration between iPlayer and BBC Store platforms; purchased content will be listed under the ‘My Programmes’ section of the BBC iPlayer site as well as on the BBC store.

PCCW Media has launched Viu OTT, online video streaming service in Hong Kong in October 2015. The service is now operating on a freemium basis with advertisement, the company revealed that paid service will be introduced in the future but the launch date and pricing detail were not disclosed.